Pay cuts imposed during the recession on clerical workers in the public sector will be addressed today at a conference in the INEC, in Killarney.

The Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) is the largest union in the civil service representing more than 12,000 clerical workers.

Key debates at its conference today will focus on pay conditions under the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

The union says that the Lansdowne Road Agreement has left members below the living wage of €11.50.

General Secretary of the union Eoin Ronayne said it was unfair that new staff have had their starting salary reduced, and added that members are expecting a pay restoration.

“The debate (today) is going to be, more than likely, very strongly focused on speeding up the (pay) restoration process,” he said.

“Yes, we backed the Lansdowne Road Agreement, but there’s nothing that says an agreement can’t be reopened and looked at.

“Certainly with the politicians in the general election making the noises they were about economic growth, there’s now a pressure building up in the workforce, an expectation.”

He said a 10% pay cut was imposed, resulting in pay rates of €9.70 an hour.

“That’s really, really low,” he said, “for the kind of work they do. Many of them have third level qualifications (but) they have to wait much longer now to get to the top of their salary scale.”